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yeah but the Vuelta stages were mostly 1 climb where as the Giro stages were longer and harder so its hard to compare.

My own suspicion though is that Purito, who struggled with the 2011 Giro, would have been slightly more on it at his home race.

As a defensive rider, following Contador attacking 8k out on stages was more likely to bring the absolute best out of Purito. As a Punchy rider the more explosive stages of the Vuelta suited him more as did the home support and the heat.

Also worth remembering that in his Giro prep Purito was already flying at Vuelta a Pais Vasco and then Fleche Wallone, in April.

In his Vuelta prep though he didnt even contest his beloved Vuelta a Burgos in order to make sure that peak form hit at exactly the right place.

So would Hejsedal have been able to follow the 3 spaniards at the Vuelta. I dont know. My suspicion is that he would have done better than recovering Gesink and tired Froome but still been a little bit behind the 3 caballeros.

that is indeed a very good point, maybe purito was missing that little bit he had at the vuelta.

That is about how I have it. I wonder about the merit of sending Swift to the Giro though when there are only a couple of sprint stages. Could do some grunt work but in that case it may be better to blood Puccio. Eisel may sit out if he focuses a bit more on the classics, leaving room for Kiryienka or DLG.

I don't know the Giro data, but Vuelta was weak. Iirc, they never exceeded even 1650 m/h. Contador at Verbier - 1860, Schleck and Contador ~ 1700, so... Yes, ascents often turned out to be positional cos' Contador attacked, Rodriguez followed and the speed instantly died out. However as for the Giro we have zero evidence to think the riders went full blast too.

Recently Kiri said in the interview that he is presumably planned for the Tour. Sincerely hope to see our guys in the 100th TdF! On a good day, Vasya is better mountain domestique than anyone including Wiggins.

Ah, I'm sorry. I misunderstood. They never rode slower than 6 Wt / kg, hence they always beat 1650 m/h. What to say? Nothing changes for the better.

Maybe Purito had the Vuelta as his main target, and arrived at the Giro a bit underdone? To me it seems that he was in better shape at the Vuelta than at the Giro. Again, just a feeling, I don't have the numbers to prove it.

Purito suddenly was a rival to Contador, which he had never been, and which Hesjedal sure as hell hasn't been.

Maybe Purito had the Vuelta as his main target, and arrived at the Giro a bit underdone? To me it seems that he was in better shape at the Vuelta than at the Giro. Again, just a feeling, I don't have the numbers to prove it.

Purito suddenly was a rival to Contador, which he had never been, and which Hesjedal sure as hell hasn't been.

And Valverde hasn't been either. So, either both Piti and Purito got a sudden level up
or simply AC was far from being 100% (which is understandable)

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A race that doesn't give an attacker the chance to finish it off alone is not a race anymore.

And Valverde hasn't been either. So, either both Piti and Purito got a sudden level up
or simply AC was far from being 100% (which is understandable)

Agreed, but purito was imo slightly better than valverde. JR and contador dropped him on ancares and then on Lagos de covadonga they dropped him a number of times and the only reason valverde was ever able to get back on was because contador kept stopping evertime purito got back. Purito also took 20 s or so from piti on bola.

It seems silly saying this for a race where valverde ended up beating rodriguez despite losing 50s unfairly but purito did seem to.me a little bit stronger in the mountains than valverde.

When I look at cycling today, I get the impression that history is repeating itself: riders who are supposed to be rouleurs are climbing passes at the front of the race, and those who are supposed to be climbers are riding time trials at more than 50 kilometres per hour.

AC probably wasn't 100%, but Purito also clearly found a way to respond to his attacks, which he didn't have before. After all, Contador had only been out of business for a few months.

Purito was already being called "in the form of his life" during the Giro. The pre-2012 Rodriguez was never going to do such a race at that level. Surely he had something more during the Vuelta, but only due to the fact that the race was taylor made for him. The 2012 AC would have dropped Purito in a Giro stage, imho. Just like Hesjedal did, to a minor extent. And sure as hell Hesjedal was never gonna beat Purito in that Vuelta. My point is just that we have no evidence that Purito got stronger in between the Giro and Vuelta. We do have hints he got stronger between 2011 and 2012, that's for sure, but nothing else.

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A race that doesn't give an attacker the chance to finish it off alone is not a race anymore.

Purito was already being called "in the form of his life" during the Giro. The pre-2012 Rodriguez was never going to do such a race at that level. Surely he had something more during the Vuelta, but only due to the fact that the race was taylor made for him. The 2012 AC would have dropped Purito in a Giro stage, imho. Just like Hesjedal did, to a minor extent. And sure as hell Hesjedal was never gonna beat Purito in that Vuelta. My point is just that we have no evidence that Purito got stronger in between the Giro and Vuelta. We do have hints he got stronger between 2011 and 2012, that's for sure, but nothing else.

Purito and Hesjedal were more or less equals in the Tour 2010. They were again in the Giro 2012, no surprises there.